Down The Road
by Nonsense-Shit
Summary: Mikasa can't wait to welcome the arrival of a new Ackerman.


**A/N: Written to mathmusicreading's adorable headcanon**

* * *

"Mikasa! Levi's here!"

Dropping her colour pencils onto the table, Mikasa jumps from her chair and rushes out of her bedroom when she hears her mother announcing the arrival of her cousin. As usual, Levi stands in all his glory at the doorway with his backpack slung over one shoulder, bending over to remove his sneakers which look really new.

"Levi!"

"Yo, Mikasa." He greets with his face still looking down at his shoes.

"Alright. Now that you're here, I can go to work with a piece of mind." Mrs Ackerman says with a relief; not that she's worried about Mikasa misbehaving but it is dangerous to leave a kid alone at home without supervision. "There's some spaghetti in the pot with the sauce in the oven if any of you get hungry later on."

"Ok."

"Ok, mummy! Have fun at work!" Mikasa waves her hand while sending her mother off.

Levi turns to his young cousin and asks in a deadpan tone, "Who the fuck has fun at work?"

Mikasa shakes her head and wags her finger at him. "Tsk tsk tsk. Language, Levi. Language. Mummy will probably disinfect your mouth with bleach if she hears you say those kind of words."

He continues to stare down at her as if he actually gives a fuck. In reality, he does not.

Turning around and heading into the living room, Levi places his bag down gently by the couch and starts up their PS3. He flips through his mini collection left behind during his previous visits and baby-sitting session and hums thoughtfully to himself. He decides to play Naruto.

"That again?"

Levi looks over and sees the unimpressed look on her tiny face, most probably because he's going to hog the TV. "What's wrong with Naruto?"

"You always lose."

"Excuse me?!"

"You. Always. Lose. "

"I do not _always_ lose." Indignant seeping in his tone.

"Yes, you do. You've only won like what, three games out of fifty against me?"

"I _let_ you win." As much as he would like to believe himself, Mikasa is unbelievably fast with her fingers. She always manage to block his attacks and somehow, build chakra to its full bar while he's still busy escaping from her.

"Denial is unhealthy." Levi's about to throw the nearby pillow towards his annoying cousin but she continues before he is able to lay a hand on the cotton ball. "Is Petra coming over later? Watching you lose is so boring."

The sudden change of topic throws Levi off and he scrambles for an answer; not that he owes her one anyway.

"How would I know? I'm not her keeper." He grunts.

"Call her then! I'm sure you miss her too."

Now __that __threw Levi out the window. "What the fuck, Mikasa?"

She flops herself behind him and starts braiding his hair, much to his annoyance. "You smile when she's around!"

"Ouch!" He exclaims when she accidentally tugs one strand too hard. "Easy on the hair. And I don't do smiles."

Mikasa smirks and sadistically pulls another strand; Levi will never have the heart to push her away. He always says there will be no ice cream for that night, or something ridiculous like monsters under her bed will take revenge on his behalf when she goes to sleep. She camped the entire night once and called Levi the next day at 6 in the morning, reporting to him all she saw was dust. She heard him facepalming over the phone.

"Just call her over. You'll bore me to death with all your losses on __that__." She points to the TV screen, now at the selection page.

She bets her entire allowance that he will choose Itachi first.

Levi digs into his pants pocket and throws his handphone over his shoulder and onto the sofa. "You can do it yourself." And he shifts the analog to Itachi.

_Bingo_!

Mikasa fiddles with the iPhone, not used to the OS since her parents uses android phones. She eventually finds Petra's chat folder and laughs silently when she sees her name is still saved as "The Pretty One", credits all given to Mikasa Ackerman.

Firing off an obnoxious amount of message that makes Levi look even more of an asshole – not that he isn't – than he already is, Mikasa patiently waits for Petra's reply.

It comes after she's done with another three mini braids.

__Be there in 30. Lemme finish up my essay first.__

"Petra's coming over in 30 minutes. I'll make you pretty for her." She proceeds to braid his remaining hair and ignores the scowl forming on her cousin's face.

* * *

"Wow. Nice hair!" is Petra's greeting when Levi opens the door and crosses the threshold with a bag of chips in her hand.

"Petra!"

Mikasa races across the living room and whams into the pretty girl and welcomes Petra with an affectionate hug. Petra returns the hug along and tussles her hair like a big sister would. "Hello. I brought some chips if you want some."

"Yeah!"

"There's some spaghetti if you're hungry, Petra." He pilfers a pack when he passes them.

"Oh!" She exclaims excitedly; she loves spaghetti. "That's great! I have not eaten dinner and I'm starving."

Mikasa giggles and drags Petra to the kitchen while Levi starts to fiddle with the bag of chips, wondering if he should he follow them. Just in case his cousin sprouts untrue stories to his crus– friend. His friend.

Right. We're just friends, he assures himself and opens the bag with much vigour.

"Levi! You want some?"

He does not reply but apparently, they took silence as a yes since he sees three bowls in front of him. Petra and Mikasa starts to dig in without waiting for him.

"How rude, starting without me." He side-eyes them.

Petra rolls her eyes and purposely slurps her noodles loudly, just for the sake of annoying him. Unfortunately, she's wearing a white top and Levi's face morphs into one of horror at seeing the orange spots staining her shirt.

"Petra!" He half screams and Petra is rather amused at his expression.

"What?"

"Your shirt!" Levi points at her and she looks down.

"Oops?"

"_'__Oops'_? '_Oops' _only?!"

"Big deal. I'll soak it when I get home." She brushes him off and continues slurping the delicious pasta, not caring whether her shirt sustains more stains or Levi will burst.

Levi gets up and marches straight to the kitchen and emerges with a damp towel. He sits beside Petra and grabs the front of her shirt and starts wiping the stains he knows will not come off properly.

"Levi!" Petra hisses at the unexpected action, her face burning red at how close his hand is to her chest; Mikasa is just an arm's length away.

"Stop moving, Petra." He mutters, brows meeting each other in the middle while he concentrates on wiping.

Obeying his orders even though all she wants to do is just kick him to Timbaktu, Petra stays as still as possible, not daring to breathe in case his hands brush against her twins.

Mikasa observes the two of them; it's like something out of a drama that you do not see in real life. She does not understand why Petra's face is putting the tomatoes in the fridge to shame.

"Petra, are you ok?" Mikasa asks innocently.

"Y-Yes!"

"Ok, done." Levi announces and heads back to the kitchen to wash the filthy thing, kindly ignoring how much of a mess he made Petra into and smirks internally.

* * *

Mikasa loves Saturdays. Her mother will always bring her to the park to play for a few hours until she's worn herself out. Just like any other Saturday, Mikasa runs to the swing set and plops onto it, digging her toes into the sand and pushing herself away from the ground.

She doesn't swing too high since her dad forbid her to, saying it's dangerous and what if her grip slips and she falls off in mid-air?

When the sun starts to hide behind the trees, the mother and daughter pair heads home. The streets are bustling with people, some heading back home for dinner, some on their way out, most probably on their way to go clubbing.

They enter a small diner and get a table near a young couple, their baby is seated in the baby chair waving tiny hands around while biting her pacifier.

The curious girl turns to mummy and asks the adult the question they usually fear and avoid or push away, "How do you make a baby?"

Mrs Ackerman puts away the menu and hums thoughtfully, wondering she should phrase her answer; damn her husband for not being there. "I'm afraid you'll have to ask Dr Jaeger when he comes over next week with Eren, dear. I'm not too sure myself since it was papa who started it."

Mikasa looks down at the mahogany table and sighs; a week is too long and she needs answers. "Do you think I can ask Levi when he comes over tomorrow?"

"U-Uhm, I guess that will work too?" Mama Ackerman's pitch raising a little at the alternative option; is it really such a good idea?

* * *

Meanwhile at a certain petite ginger's house, the unsuspecting victim is currently trying to finish up his assignment for advanced calculus but it is a little __hard __to concentrate when his study partner is wearing his hoodie with extremely short shorts.

"Don't you feel cold?" He grunts out, trying to control his eyes from wandering up her silky legs, fighting against his itchy fingers which will probably not obey him soon.

"Should I feel cold?" She asks him back cheekily and stretches her leg out underneath the low glass table in her room.

Levi grips his pen a little tighter in accordance to how tight his jeans become.

__Damn it__.

"It's autumn. You should feel at least a little chilly being so exposed."

Petra notices his sneaky glances and decides to taunt him even more even though she should be studying. "On the contrary, I feel a little warm."

She unzips his hoodie slowly teeth by teeth, exposing her tight-fitting top hugging her like a second skin.

Levi gulps at the mini-strip show beside him.

* * *

Mikasa is in an extremely good mood because she woke up to the smell of bacon; it means that Petra is here! Although Cousin Levi excels in his studies, he's the total opposite of intelligent in the kitchen. Her daddy doesn't know how to cook at all; his track record isn't the best after he literally set the stove on fire. Mummy doesn't approve of bacon since it's too salty and fatty.

"Petra!" Mikasa screams as she runs down the stairs.

She pops her head into the kitchen and sees both her cousin and Petra busy straightening their hair and clothes.

"Are you cooking bacon?" She asks innocently with a smile bright enough to combat Levi's grouchiness on a Sunday.

"Bacon? Oh yes! Bacon!" Petra turns back to the stove and quickly off the fire. "I hope you like them extra crispy." She mutters.

Mikasa sits patiently at the dining table while Levi brings out the cutlery and milk while Petra is busy with arranging the food on their plates, piling sausages, scrambled eggs for her and sunny side-ups for Levi, and of course not forgetting the extra crispy bacon.

Levi makes a sound of annoyance when Mikasa and Petra reaches over to burst his egg yolks. "Oi, how am I suppose to eat them now?"

Instead of replying with him a smart-alec answer like __open your damn mouth, put it in, chew, and swallow__, Petra quickly scoops one flowing yolk with a huge grin and stuffs the spoon into his mouth.

Levi wants to scream murder but Petra doesn't allow it, second spoonful of yolk on stand-by mode outside his mouth. "Better open up before the yolk overflows and drips onto your shirt."

__Damn it!__

Mikasa sips her milk slowly while watching the drama play out. "Oh yeah, Levi, I have a question."

Levi nudges his head at her, a silent __What? __on his tongue since his mouth is filled to the brim with food.

"How do you make babies?"

An innocent question almost becomes a weapon of murder when Levi promptly chokes and starts gagging, the yolks emerging from his mouth and he quickly runs to the dustbin to throw everything up before he runs out of oxygen.

Levi storms back to the dining table and wipes his mouth with a napkin with as much grace he can muster. "Why the fuck are you asking me that question?"

Petra and Mikasa frowns at his choice of words, the former poking him in the waist while the latter starts __tsk__-ing again. "Mummy said I can ask you so..."

"..."

Levi does not know where is the line that separates crude and educational so he looks at Petra, face of stone but his eyes looks like he's going to drown soon. They fight with their eyes for a while but Petra gives in with a sigh and turns to Mikasa.

"Babies are usually made when a boy and a girl love each other, just like how your parents made you." She explains slowly with a smile, hoping her answer has fulfilled her curiousity.

"Oooooh. Ok, I got it."

That was fast, Levi thinks.

* * *

"Eren, Armin, can you guys help me with something?" Mikasa asks her friends at school during break.

"Ok."

"Sure."

"Thanks guys! Actually, I need you guys to play house with me."

"What for, Mikasa?" Armin questions her odd request.

"Well, you see, I need to practice being an aunt. I'm going to have a little cousin soon. Levi and Petra told me yesterday that they're going to have a baby." She exclaims excitedly at the thought of welcoming another Ackerman to the family.

"Wait. How did you know they're having a baby?" Eren crosses his arm and leans forward, curious at the new finding; he wonders if he can get blackmail material on Levi. The last time he was at Mikasa's house, Levi was there. The scary senior whacked him on the head for entering his room.

"I asked them how babies are made and they told me it happens when two people love each other and I heard Levi saying 'I love you' over the phone to Petra before." By now, Mikasa is getting giddy with happiness; she wonders how their baby will look like.

"Erm.. Mikasa, actually, babies –" Armins tries to input but gets cut off by his friend.

"I hope their baby inherits Petra's looks. She's so pretty."

"Who's having a baby?" Sasha pops her head into their circle, having overheard their conversation.

"Levi and Petra!" Mikasa blurts out before Armin could stop her.

"Oooh! Sounds nice! How many are they having?"

"1, I think. But they love each other so much, maybe 2? Or even 3?"

The information soon spirals out of control and by the end of the day, everyone is Mikasa's class knows about the upcoming celebration; Jean wonders if Mikasa is having his baby right now or not.

* * *

"– And then she said they are going to have a baby soon!" Sasha grins.

"Ooh?! This is new!" Hanji mirrors her little sister's grin; she's so gonna rip Levi a new one. "What else did Mikasa say?"

"Well..." Sasha looks to the side, trying to remember. "Something about Levi saying 'I love you', I think."

Hanji picks Sasha up, squealing while gives her too many twirls until they both become dizzy. Quickly whipping out her phone to whatsapp her boyfriend once letting down the giggling kid, Hanji spams their chat until Erwin replies with a _Calm down, Hanji_.

Giggling and sniggering like a mad woman, she continues to spam Erwin and their other mutual friends. By two in the morning, Hanji has replied over a hundred messages and is still continuing her obnoxious spamming.

* * *

"Petra, good morning."

"Morning, Nanaba!" Petra greets back as her friend slink into the booth opposite her, Rico beside her while Hanji throws herself beside the petite ginger. "Hanji, that hurts."

"Sorry, darling." She sings. "But I'm very happy and excited right now so don't mind me and my eccentric weirdness."

Petra looks over to her other friends with a questioning look, only to receive nonchalant shrugs.

"... What is going on?" Petra asks, suspicious of their actions, nevermind Hanji's words.

"Petra, if you need anything, just let us know."

"Yeah, we know Levi is a pain in the ass. Don't mind my phrasing." Rico nods her understanding.

"... What is going on?"

* * *

Feeling a soft kick to the shin, Levi stares at Erwin sitting across him, looking at him with a serious expression. He pulls out the right side of his earpiece but before he can shoots him for breaking his concentration, Erwin asks outrightly, "Levi, are you sure you are okay?"

"What are you talking about, Shitty Eyebrows? Don't you have to complete Shitty Shadis' assignment?" Levi shoots a glare at the tall blond, whispering lowly otherwise Anka will throw him out, again; if only Petra doesn't have that stupid consult with their teacher, he could very well be lying on her bed with her without any clothes and–

"Well, I've heard some stuff from Hanji about you and–"

"And you still believe everything she says about me?" Levi scoffs. "You should know better than to trust her words when it concerns me."

Erwin looks down at his paper and contemplates about his friend's words. "But Hanji said Petra may be–"

Levi rolls his eyes and stuff his earphones back into his ears. Erwin shrugs to himself; he did try.

* * *

Mikasa hums to herself while colouring her art. The title on top says _The Future_. At the bottom, there are three stick figures. One with black hair, small blue eyes and a frown. The other with orange hair, amber eyes and a smile. The stickman in the middle is noticeably smaller than the other two but the hair and face not drawn yet because she does not know how the kid will look like; she can't foresee the future, after all.

A gentle knock on her door shakes her out of her deep thinking and she sees Levi leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, waiting for permission to enter.

He sees her smile of approval

He walks over to where Mikasa is seated at her study table and sees the half-finished art. "What's this?"

"Ms Ilse told us to draw something we think will happen in the near future. Where's Petra?"

"She's sleeping in my room."

Mikasa giggles silently at that. Since Levi is always over to babysit her, sometimes even overnight when her parents works night shift or goes on business trips, they converted one of the plain guestrooms into Levi's second bedroom. He said it's alright and that he's fine with sleeping on the couch but they wouldn't have any of it. Slowly, Levi's personal belongings gained a home here and just like his first home, Levi does not like it when people enter his room without his permission, even though technically it isn't his but since Mikasa's parents told him to treat it as if it is his, he shall.

Once, Mikasa had sneaked in and Levi took away the ice cream meant for that night's dessert. But when Petra sneaked in, Levi followed her and they didn't emerge until an hour later, and he actually had a smile on his face, albeit small.

"Oh. Anyway, what do you think of my drawing?"

"It sucks. Who are these stickman supposed to represent?"

She points to the one with black hair, "You," and "This is Petra," she says with her finger at the one with orange hair this time.

Levi scowls; it does looks like him but he has an important question, "And the puny one in the middle?"

"Tha baby you and Petra are gonna have!"

* * *

Playing with the zip of his hoodie, Petra sighs; she's so bored of homework.

"Do your homework, Petra. It isn't going to complete by itself." Levi admonishes. He knows she's bored but Shadis will have their heads if they do not turn in their assignment tomorrow.

"I know, I know!" She cries, hoping help will fall from the sky.

Levi sighs and grabs her head, pressing their foreheads together lightly and looks her in the eye, "If you complete it by five, we will have enough time to head to Legion and get some pizza before the crowd gather. My treat."

Petra smiles and presses her lips against his.

Without any warning, the door to her room slams open and the two quickly separate as if a wall of fire was between them.

"Petra!"

"Daddy? What's wrong? Why are you back so early?"

"Nevermind why I'm back so early. I heard some shocking news from Mrs Springer at the bakery so I rushed back."

"O...kay. So, what did you heard?"

"Before I tell you what I heard, is there something you need to tell me?"

Petra stares at the beads of sweat forming on her father's head and thinks something is definitely wrong. "Er... no?"

Daddy Ral enters her room and kneels before her and gather her in a gentle hug, reassuring he wouldn't hate her or anything and he will always stand by her side, but he gives Levi the Evil Eye.

"Daddy, what is wrong with you? I'm perfectly fine, as you can see!"

Unable to take it anymore, Daddy Ral burst into tears and bangs a fist on the table, "Why didn't you tell me you're pregnant?!"

"Huh?!"

"And the father of the child is Levi?!"

"Huh?!" This time coming from the baffled young man in the room.

"Daddy! Where did you hear that from?!" Petra half screams at the ridiculous news.

Ignoring his daughter's cries, Daddy Ral continues on, "We can always call the police to catch that vermin since you're still underage! You do not have to fear him harming you! You should know that I will never abandon you! I know mummy wants grandkids and you're a filial child but this is too soon! Too early! You have yet to finish your studies! How about we–"

A gentle slap to both sides of his face stops the frantic dad in the middle of his worried rant.

"Calm down, daddy. I am NOT pregnant!"

"You are.. not pregnant..?"

"I am NOT pregnant." She repeats, emphasizing on _not_.

Daddy Ral's brain slowly processes the word and when it finally gets through, he sags in relief and plops on the floor, suddenly feeling he has aged twenty years within the past ten minutes. He wipes the sweat off his face and laughs nervously at the scene he's caused, until he remembers Levi is in the room.

His head turns up and stares at Levi who is still on the defensive in case Petra's dad tries to rip his balls – he's pretty sure he remembered to use condoms. "You!"

"Me?"

"You're no longer allowed here!"

"Daddy!"

* * *

"So... you're not pregnant?"

Petra sighs for the nth time; how many times have she repeated her answer? She's lost count.

Rubbing her head because a headache is brewing, Petra mutters a weary, "No."

The faces of their friends fall at Petra's answer.

"Why the fuck do you shits look so disappointed?"

The group exchange looks and it pisses Levi off even more. "For fuck's sake, don't tell me you really believed Petra was pregnant?

"Well, you two are always _together_ and we _know_ you always go to her house for _study_ dates."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, we also know those _study_ dates are actually banging dates." Hanji points out as if she's reciting the definition of science.

Levi bangs his head on the table. "They are _not_ banging dates!"

"But they're definitely not just study dates either."

"Rico, you're not helping me." Petra stares at her friend.

Erwin nods sagely at the end of the table and speaks. "I do remember seeing your wallet filled with condoms before you went to Petra's house last week."

Levi wonders if there is a way to escape jail term if he decides to commit homicide.

* * *

"Levi!" Mikasa greets when he enters her house. Her mum just left for work and she's feeling bored.

"Yo, brat."

"How many babies will you and Petra be having? 2? 3? Since the two of you love each other so much, maybe 3?" She makes a wild guess.

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down there, Mikasa. What babies?" He squints at his giddy cousin; he thinks he's found out how this shit started.

"Petra loves you, right?"

"Er–"

"And you love Petra, right?"

"Hold on–"

"And when a girl and a boy love each other, babies are made right?"

"That's right. But–"

"So how many?! I forgot to ask Petra the other time so I told Sasha to wait for my answer."

Levi pinches the bridge of his nose and tries to remember Mikasa is just a kid. Taking a deep breath to calm his mind and releasing it through his mouth, Levi feels like an old man.

"Ok, Mikasa. We need to have a long talk." He declares and guides her to the living room.

Two hours later with an exhausted Levi, a very disappointed Mikasa asks sullenly, "So, no baby?"

"No baby."

"Even if I wish for it?"

"Even if you wish for it."

Mikas nods and looks down at her hands. "Does that mean I have to tell Sasha there is no baby on the way?"

"Yes. Definitely yes. Tell that to everyone in your class. And tell them to tell their parents too."

Levi shudders at how fast gossip travels in their town.

"But you do love Petra, right?!" Mikasa exclaims with renewed energy.

"I do–"

"And Petra loves you, right?!"

"I hope so."

"That means there will be babies in the future, right?!"

Levi stares at her sparkling eyes and the corner of his mouth curls upwards. "Who knows?" He ruffles her hair like a big brother would.

* * *

It's been two months but the teasing has yet come to a complete stop. Whenever Petra gains a little weight, she always has to flip people off with the finger because they always ask if she's pregnant for real this time.

Spring is approaching and while finals have come to an end, their _study_ dates have not. Lying comfortably in her bed, Levi sprawls his loose body like a starfish, occupying the entire thing while Petra sits in between his legs at the foot of the bed.

"I'm bored," is what she says but there's something bothering her.

Levi grunts a noncommittal noise, lazy to open his mouth because he's well on his way to The Land of Z. Petra stares at him unimpressed, so she delivers a light kick to his balls which sents him scrambling backwards towards the headboard; the further he can get away, the safer he thinks he will be.

Clutching his crotch to protect it from any further harm, Levi stares at Petra with his mouth agape, "Petra! Do you know what you are doing?!"

"I do know what I'm doing." She says flatly.

"You do know that if Levi junior gets hurt, you won't be getting any for a while."

She can't help but roll her eyes; what an egoistic bastard. "Puh-leaze."

Grabbing a nearby pillow, she bends over it and groans softly.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Having cramps?"

"No." Her words muffled by the cotton.

"Then what is it?" Levi's concern starts acting up and crawls towards the girl; she's never acted this way before.

Prying the pillow away from the death-grip she's had it in, Levi pulls Petra towards him, lying her head on his chest. Minutes passed without any foul words coming out of Levi's mouth.

"Levi, what do you think about us?"

His hand stops playing with her soft hair for half a second. "Why such a question?"

"Because..." She pauses, not knowing how to phrase her words without coming off as needy. "I don't know? We are always together but at the same time we are not together. I won't say we're just friends with benefits or fuck buddies but I can't say we're dating either."

Levi thinks about her words. They know that they have feelings for the other but they're not _dating_ dating, just... casual dating, if it can be called that. He knows Petra always receives love letters regularly but she always throw them away. He knows she's the perfect girl – at least to him she is – and any guy who gets to spend their life with her will definitely be the most fortunate guy on earth. He wants to be that guy but he knows he's isn't the kind of guy that a sane woman will want to be with.

Somehow, instead of avoiding him, Petra unknowingly enters his heart and made a permanent mark on it.

"What do you want us to become?" He asks.

"Promise me you won't run away after I tell you." She requests in a small voice.

"I won't." He tightens his hold on her shoulder.

"I want us to be together. Not just as friends but as a couple. A real couple. One where I can proudly say I'm your girlfriend to everyone I meet."

Levi's fingers moves from her hair to her cheek, cupping it gently and lifting her head so their eyes can meet. "Are you sure you want that? I wouldn't be together with me if I can help it."

Petra chuckles at his half-ass attempt to discourage her. "Of course I do, otherwise I wouldn't say such stuff."

He bends his head and kisses her soft lips to hide the stupid smile that's about to take over his face, relishing in their first kiss as an official couple. They break apart soon when Petra pushes him slightly.

"So, does that mean you are my partner for the Valentine's Day dance?" She grins.

"Tsk. So that's what this is about, eh?"

"Of course not." Petra smiles as she pulls him down for another kiss.

Levi can't wait for their future to begin.

* * *

Three days later, Levi breaks the news to Mikasa.

"So now you're having a baby? Can I name it?" She asks eagerly, kneeling beside on the couch while he checks his mobile to see if Petra sent him any messages. There is one.

"No baby yet." He smiles. "But there will be in the future."

"Yeah!"


End file.
